MARITAL BIOGRAPHY AND ACCELERATED AGING: EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY

Abstract It is well-established that marriage promotes health and longevity. While a large body of research has examined marital status differences in health, no studies have focused on how marital status is linked to biological age. Moreover, the association between marital biography – transitions in and out of marriage across the life course – and biological aging also remains to be explored. Biological age, which refers to the “physiological functioning relative to the average physiological state at a specific chronological age,” has been steadily gaining attention as a measure indicative of an individual’s health status. In this study, we advance the literature on marital status and health by examining how marital status and marital transitions are associated with biological aging among a representative sample of U.S. older adults. We use an expanded measure of biological age that incorporates 22 biological indicators, more than half of which were not used in previous studies, to better assess how marital experiences shape accelerated aging. Using data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study, we find that the pace of aging of those who have experienced one disruption is not statistically different from those continuously married. However, for both currently and previously married individuals, the experience of multiple marital disruptions is associated with accelerated aging. Health behaviors account for the association between multiple marital disruptions and accelerated aging for previously married older adults but not for currently married older adults. Psychosocial resources did not mediate the influence of marital biography on accelerated aging.

accompanying cognitive impairments due to stroke, mild cognitive impairment, and traumatic brain injury.We describe the process and principles for designing tutorials for Uber and Google Maps, two applications that can support improved mobility for those with navigation difficulties associated with cognitive impairment.Initially we examined predictors of self-reported navigation difficulty in a sample (n=300) of older adults aging normally.In the multiple regression, self-reported memory problems (beta = .35),severity of memory problems (beta=.18),and female gender (beta=.16)were the strongest predictors of wayfinding difficulty in addition to a standardized spatial orientation test (beta=.13).Finding that memory difficulties were strongly related to navigation difficulties even in normal aging implied that tutorials could not make strong demands on retention and helped define the queries for interviews in the needs assessment phase.Next, we interviewed aging adults with cognitive impairment and their care partners about navigation problems, focusing on difficulties using navigation devices and applications.We also presented screenshots of the two target apps and asked simple questions about actions that could be taken.We then designed prototype tutorials using principles such as directing attention to relevant display features by highlighting the features, minimizing extraneous workload, and providing spaced retrieval practice for interactions with the interface.We also describe the iterative design process being used to refine the tutorials and the planned summative test of tutorial efficacy.Older adults, especially those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), are at increasing risk of social isolation and loneliness, leading to poorer health outcomes.Video technology has the potential to provide socially and cognitively engaging activities from their homes.We are exploring the benefits of a virtual social engagement intervention in older adults with and without MCI (clinicaltrials.govNCT05380180).We are using a video-technology called OneClick.chat to present participants with a short presentation followed by conversational breakout groups.One challenge for the intervention development was the selection of content that would be engaging but not too memory demanding and of interest to a broad range of people.We worked with iN2L to design 60 unique events that met predefined criteria: could facilitate conversations, did not rely on episodic memory, covered a range of topics, and reflected a diversity of individuals, identities, cultures, and interests.

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS AND HEALTH
Abstract citation ID: igad104.0321

MARITAL BIOGRAPHY AND ACCELERATED AGING: EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY
Won Choi 1 , Haena Lee 2 , and Eileen Crimmins 3 , 1. University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 2. Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 3.

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
It is well-established that marriage promotes health and longevity.While a large body of research has examined marital status differences in health, no studies have focused on how marital status is linked to biological age.Moreover, the association between marital biography -transitions in and out of marriage across the life course -and biological aging also remains to be explored.Biological age, which refers to the "physiological functioning relative to the average physiological state at a specific chronological age," has been steadily gaining attention as a measure indicative of an individual's health status.In this study, we advance the literature on marital status and health by examining how marital status and marital transitions are associated with biological aging among a representative sample of U.S. older adults.We use an expanded measure of biological age that incorporates 22 biological indicators, more than half of which were not used in previous studies, to better assess how marital experiences shape accelerated aging.Using data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study, we find that the pace of aging of those who have experienced one disruption is not statistically different from those continuously married.However, for both currently and previously married individuals, the experience of multiple marital disruptions is associated with accelerated aging.Health behaviors account for the association between multiple marital disruptions and accelerated aging for previously married older adults but not for currently married older adults.Psychosocial resources did not mediate the influence of marital biography on accelerated aging.

RELATIONSHIPS OF SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE ACTIVITY TO WELL-BEING AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING OVER TIME
Science & Technology; and Recreation & Sports.We carefully curated each event to ensure consistency of presentation length, picture type, readability, visibility, number of slides, and audio quality.Presentation format was carefully tested through multiple iterations to ensure the best participant experience.Conversational prompts were designed for each event to stimulate engaging conversations through openended questions.During the trial we are gathering data on participants' preferences for different topics that can guide future iterations.Our systematic process of development can guide content design for research on social engagement interventions.
Events were categorized into five predefined categories: Arts & Culture; Nature, Health, & Wellness; Life Experiences;